


The Pitiful Children *being rewritten*

by beepbeepbevvie



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Bulimia, Dialogue Heavy, Drug Addiction, Gen, Richie Tozier and Mike Wheeler Are Twins, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:39:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22181188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beepbeepbevvie/pseuds/beepbeepbevvie
Summary: After defeating It, the Loser's Club get kidnapped by Dr. Brenner to be experimented on. Turns out that after beating It, they each got one of his powers. Soon after waking up they escape the facility and meet up with the Party.
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler
Comments: 16
Kudos: 213





	1. Stan & Mike

**Author's Note:**

> I've been obsessed with stranger things/it crossovers, so I decided to try my hand at writing one!
> 
> I've tried to elaborate on their powers, but some of them haven't been mentioned yet. They each got one of Pennywise's powers. The ones have been mentioned are Mike (enhanced senses: strength and speed), Stan (telekinesis) and Ben (invisibility)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An Escape

"Number Six." Stan's eyes fluttered open as the voice of a man woke him. "Wake up and follow me."

He brought his arm up to cover his face, the light making them sting. He felt like he hadn't seen light in awhile. The bed creaked underneath him as he sat up.

"What's going on?" Stan asked the unknown voice. Panic setting in when he realized he didn't know where he was. "Where am I? Who are you?"

"My name is Dr. Brenner." The man's eyes were cold, he looked at Stan like he was nothing. "Now follow me."

"No!"

Dr. Brenner turned around and left the room. He snapped his fingers and pointed at Stan. Two guards rushed into the room, advancing toward the boy. They grabbed each of Stan's arms and dragged him out of the room while Stan struggled in their grip.

"Let me go!" Stan exclaimed, panicking even more. The guards didn't let up. They brought him down a hallway. Dr. Brenner unlocked a room and walked inside, Stan had no choice but to follow. 

"This will go much smoother if you comply, Six." Dr. Brenner said as the guards placed him in a chair, cuffing his arms to the desk in front of him. "We'll be running some tests and then you'll be free to go back to your room."

Stan stayed silent as he tugged on the restraints on his wrists. He tugged harder and soon his wrists turned a bright red color. They stung as the fight in him left, leaving Stan to stare at the man in front of him.

"Are you done?" Stan nodded, accepting his fate. The doctor clicked his tongue, sitting across from the boy. "Okay. Now, I have some questions. Answer them truthfully."

Stan nodded again and Dr. Brenner looked at the sheet of paper in front of him. 

"What is the last thing you remember?"

The question caught Stan off guard. Pictures of the sewers flooded his mind. Walking through greywater, the flute lady's teeth sinking into the sides of his face, his friends- his friends.

"Where are my friends?" Stan's eyes widened as he looked around the room frantically like they would be there.

"I'm asking the questions, Number Six." Dr. Brenner glared.

"We were in the sewers." Stan answered the question finally. "That's the last thing I remember."

The doctor wrote something down on the sheet of paper, nodding. "And what were you doing down there?" 

Stan hesitated. Memories of being thrown into a wall by Pennywise flooded his mind. "Playing." He tried.

"Try again." Dr. Brenner put his pen down, folding his hands together.

"Fighting a clown." Stan said truthfully. "It was trying to kill us."

Dr. Brenner nodded again, writing it down. "Looks like the stories match up."

"What do you mean?" Stan asked. The doctor didn't answer him, instead he stood up and started walking out of the room. He snapped and the guards were back in the room approaching Stan to drag him back to his room.

"No!" Stan struggled in the men's grip. "No! Where are my friends? No! Stop! Let me go!" He yelled until his throat was sore.

Suddenly Stan fell as one of the men holding him dropped to the ground.

"What the fuck?" The other guard ripped the gun from his side and pointed it at Stan.

Stan scrambled away from the man, doing his best to get out of the light of fire. He moved his hand up to cover his face as if it would shield him from the bullets. A sticking crack filled the air and the man holding the gun dropped to the ground as well.

Stan slowly moved his hand away from his face only to scream when he made eye contact with the lifeless eyes of the guards. Footsteps echoed down the hallway and Dr. Brenner turned the corner. Stan shoved himself away from the bodies quickly.

"Well, well, well." Dr. Brenner starts. "Looks like you're just like Eleven."

Something wet dripped from the boy's nose. He wiped at it only to find blood on his hand. Stan stood up on shakey legs before bolting down the corridor to get away from the man.

\---

Mike pounded on the door to his room. The metal dented with each hit he landed on it. Finally with one last kick to the lock, the door blew open and Mike was free.

The door opened into a hallway and he could hear footsteps echoing down it. It sounded like someone was running.

"Stan?" He asked, confused as his curly headed friend turned the corner. Just like him, Stan was wearing a hospital gown.

"Mike!" The boy ran up to him. His arms wrapping around Mike. "We need to get out of here!" He cried.

"We need to find the others." Mike said. He looked around the hallway they were in. The doors numbered 1 through 11. The handle for door number 4 started shaking.

"Mike?" Richie's voice came from the other side of the door. "Is that you?"

"Richie!" Stan rushed toward the door and started tugging on the handle as if that would help.

Mike shoved Stan out of the way. "Richie, stand back!" Mike counted to three before taking a deep breath and kicking the door. It blew off the hinges and Richies stood in the room, also wearing a hospital gown.

All of a sudden, all of the doors started shaking as the kids behind them started pounding on the doors. Mike could make out all of their voices.

"Guys?" Richie brought Stan and Mike's attention to him. "Do you hear that?" He pointed to the hallway. Heavy footsteps running down the hall made Mike move quicker then he ever had before.

"All of you guys stand back!" Mike demanded, going up to each door and kicking each one in. Each one of his friends emerged from the rooms. Bill, Ben, Beverly, and Eddie.

"Mike, you're bleeding." Bev said, making her way to the boy. 

"We need to move!" Stan yelled as guards turned the corner guns pointed at the group. "Go! Go! Go!"

The group ran in the opposite direction from the guards. Bev, Bill, Ben and Eddie made up the front while Richie, Stan, and Mike made up the rear. A shot rang out, barely missing Mike's own shoulder.

The hallways seemed to twist and turn forever. They ran up and down staircases, trying to lose the legion of guards that were behind them. Beverly stopped in her tracks causing the group to crash into her.

"Why did you stop?" Eddie asked frantically, his hands waving around in the air.

"There's more in front of us." Bev whispered. "We need to hide."

"I-In h-here." Bill shoved open a door that was behind them. They all piled into the room. Their chest heaving from all the running they were doing. Mike could hear Eddie's wheezing as his asthma caught up to him.

"Where's Ben?" Bev's panicked whisper made them all look at her before looking around the room.

"Shit, did we leave him out there?" Richie asked. Stan shook his head.

"He was right in front of me."

"Guys this isn't funny." Ben's voice rang out next to Richie, causing the other boy to jump.

"What the fuck?" Richie cried.

"It's l-like he's invis-vis-visble." Bill gasped.

"Guys!" Mike called the groups attention. "We're on the first floor. We can climb out the window!" The group ran to the window and Mike elbowed the glass, shattering it. "Come on, let's go."

Ben reappeared and Mike decided to worry about it later. He helped Ben out the window and then the others, climbing out the window last.

"Do you guys see a way out?" Eddie asked, his voice quiet as he tried to catch his breath.

"There has to be one." Bev said, just as the door to the room they were in opened. "Go!" She whispered, dropping low to the ground to hide, the boys followed her actions. They slowly made their way, crawling under windows to keep cover.

Stan waved to get the groups attention, once he did, he pointed to a hole in the fence that was caused by the fence being bent backwards. "Through there." He whispered.

The all nodded, and ran toward the hole in the fence. Once they were near it, Mike looked back to see if anybody was following them. He stopped in his tracks. Behind them, the building was completely dilapidated, like it hadn't been used in years.

A shout alerted them of someone else's presence. Mike quickly went through the hole in the fence and followed his friends as they ran through the woods.

They had to have been running for at least ten minutes before they made it out to a road. The signs read that they were in the corner of Cornwallis and Keene. It was another ten minutes before they came up to a house, the first one they'd seen since they left.

"W-we have to t-t-try it." Bill reasoned. "They co-could help."

"We need to call the police." Stan said. Mike nodded and the group made their way up to the door.

Mike didn't know what time it was, it had to have been some time past 9pm since the sun was down. Bill knocked on the door loudly. They waited a couple minutes before Bill knocked again.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" An irritated muffled voice came from behind the door before it swung open. "What do you wa-" The woman at the door cut herself off at the sight of the seven teenagers in front of her.

"Please, ma'am." Bev pleaded. "We need to use your phone."

The woman nodded and let the group inside. Mike sighed in relief, they were safe.


	2. Richie & Eddie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: mentions of pills and drug abuse at the end of this chapter

Richie was unusually quiet as the woman, Joyce she said her name was, called the police. Bill had tried to explain what had happened to them, but his stutter kept getting in the way. Bev decided to take over and talk to Joyce.

"The last thing I remember was being in my room back in Derry." Bev explained, fudging the truth just a bit. Richie nodded along to what she said. "Then I woke up in a hospital room."

"Derry?" Joyce asked. "Where is that?"

Richie gave her a weird look. "In Maine?"

"Maine?" Joyce exclaimed. "Kids, you're in Indiana."

A silence fell over the group and Richie could hear Eddie's breath hitch. Richie sat down next to him to try and calm him down. At the same time, Stan stood up at started pacing.

"Indiana? We can't be in Indiana!" His voice was going higher in pitch as he started to panic. Mike stood up to comfort the boy.

There was a knock on the door causing everybody but Joyce in the room to tense. She made her way toward the door, opening it slightly before opening it the rest of the way. A police officer walks into the living room and the group of kids relaxed slightly.

"Hopper, I'm glad you could make it." Joyce sighed.

"Will someone tell me what is going on?" The officer demanded, eyes landing on Richie. His eyes widened for a moment before he shook his head.

"We decided to frolic through the woods in some hospital gowns." Richie said. "All the kids are doing it nowadays."

"Beep beep, Richie." Eddie elbowed him in the side. Richie huffed and crossed his arms.

"Anybody who's not a sarcastic little shit?" The officer asked.

"We don't know how we ended up there." Ben said, making everybody's eyes turn to him. He shrunk under their gazes. "Just that we woke up in room dressed in these hospital gowns."

"Mom?" A boy stood in the hallway. "What's going on?"

"Will, what are you doing up?" Joyce walked over to her son, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I heard voices." He looked over everybody before stopping on Richie. "Mike? What ate you doing here?"

"What?" Mike's brow furrowed. Will looked at the dark skinned boy before shaking his head.

Hopper whistled, gaining everyone's attention. "Continue with the story."

Ben nodded. "This doctor took me to this room and questioned me. He asked things like 'what was the last thing I remembered'."

"Brenner." Stan interjected. "He said his name was Dr. Brenner."

Joyce took a sharp intake of breath at the name. Hopper shifted his stance. Will froze.

"I need you guys to tell me the truth." Hopper sat down in the recliner. "I may sound completely out of my mind, but this is a serious question."

The atmosphere in the room became more tense as the officer asked his question.

"Do you guys have any special abilities?" Richie would have laughed in his face if the man didn't look so serious. "Can you do things with your mind? That other people can't?"

Stan backed up onto the couch at the Eddie and Richie were sitting on. His eyes blown wide. Richie could see tears forming in them.

"I-I killed those men." Stan whispered. "I didn't even touch them. I was just scared. I didn't mean to!"

Tears started streaming down Stan's cheeks. The loser's instantly flocked toward their crying friend. They laid comforting hands on him, Stan leaned into the touches as much as he could.

"Son," Hopper got up to sit in front of them.

"S-Stay b-b-back." Bill demanded and Hopper froze. Richie noticed that the officer's right temple bulged like he was struggling to move forward. Suddenly, he moved backwards, keeping a safe distance from the teens.

"Okay, what do you mean you didn't touch them?" Hopper tried again.

"I snapped their necks. They were holding on to me really tight and I panicked. Then one of them fell to the ground. The other one pointed a gun at me so I moved my hand to shield myself and then he died too."

Hopper nodded. "It wasn't your fault, kid."

"Ben can turn invisible." Eddie chimed in. "He turned invisible when we were hiding from the guards."

Ben shifted from where he stood next to the couch. "It's true. I thought they were trying to prank me, but when I looked down I was gone."

"That's so cool!" Will blurted out.

Ben smiled. "Yeah I guess it is."

"I'm really strong." Mike cut in. "I broke down my door and then all their doors to get them out."

Richie nodded. "You should have seen him! He broke down my door and it literally came off of it's hinges. With one kick!"

"Richie?" Eddie murmured. "What is that?" He pointed to Richie's wrist. In black ink the numbers 004 were printed on his skin.

"What the hell?" He examined it closer, glancing at Eddie's wrist. "You have one, too!"

"Me too." Beverly held out her left wrist with the numbers 002 on it. "We all do, look."

"My mom's going to kill me!" Eddie shot up off the couch, pacing around the living room. His hands tugged at his hair.

"Eds, calm down!" Richie tried.

"Calm down? CALM DOWN?" He shouted, making another boy come out of his room and enter the living room. "I can't fucking calm down, Richie! Do you know what this means? It means we were experiments! We were kidnapped from the sewers and turned into experiments!"

"The sewers?" Joyce asked. "I thought you were in your rooms?"

"Can I use your bathroom?" Eddie stopped pacing to look at Joyce.

"It's down the hall to your left." The woman pointed over her shoulder.

"Thank you." Eddie said. Richie's eyes widened as Eddie disappeared from the spot he was in. Everybody in the room that wasn't standing shot up from their seats.

"What that fuck?" Eddie's voice was muffled by the closed bathroom door. He sounded frightened.

"I guess he can teleport?" Ben tried to lighten the mood. "That's so much cooler than invisibility." No one laughed.

\---

As soon as Eddie got over the fact he teleported into the bathroom, he sat down on the closed toilet lid and cried. His hands were shaking badly, he knew what that meant. He hadn't had his pills for quite some time now.

His mother always supplied them to him, no matter what. She had always said that they helped him with his sickness, but he never had any illnesses to begin with.

Eddie got up and trifled through the sink's drawers, hoping to find something, anything to help him out. He made eye contact with himself in the mirror. This was the first time he'd seen his reflection in ages.

His eyes had dark circles under them, like he had been punched in both eyes. His skin was pale. He knew what this meant. Withdrawl.

He opened the mirror cabinet and a smile broke out over his face as he was met with a variety of pill bottles. His trembling hands turned each bottle until he found what he was looking for. Hydrocodone, a pain reliever.

He shook two pills out of the bottle and dry swallowed them. Relief flooded his system, and he knew he would feel better soon. He put the pills back where they were since he couldn't hide them on him because of his hospital gown. He took a few deep breaths and opened the bathroom door. He was face to face with Richie's knuckle.

"Hey I was just about to check on you." Richie lowered his fist. "Are you okay?"

"I think I'll be fine." Eddie nodded before grabbing Richie's hand and walking back into the living room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if any of the characters are OOC, there's going to be some many people in this story so I might not get their personalities exactly right
> 
> Anyway, Eddie's power is teleportation! Also I've hinted at Bill's power, but I don't want to completely reveal it until later.


	3. Ben & Bill

Jonathan and Will were passing out clothes when Richie and Eddie walked back into the room. Ben examined the clothes he was given and debated if it would be able to fit him. He shrugged and decided to try it on anyway. It was a bit snug, but it was the best he would get.

"So do the rest of you have special abilities." Hopper asked observing the kids. "You must have because why else would Brenner kidnap you guys."

"Sir," Ben interrupted, seeing the tired looks in each of his friends' eyes. "Do you think we could give this a rest? We've had to run at least five miles, we're tired."

"No-" The officer started.

"Hopper, let them rest." Joyce cut him off. "We can continue questioning them tomorrow."

Hopper huffed out a sigh and stood up. "Fine, I'll be back first thing tomorrow morning. I'll bring El with me, she'll be glad to meet them."

Joyce nodded and followed the man out the door. Ben could see them through the window talking to one another. Joyce's hand waving around as she spoke.

"We'll get you all something to sleep on." Jonathan said, grabbing his brother's shoulder. "We won't have enough blankets, but we have enough sheets. You guys can just use those."

"T-Thank you." Bill nodded. "Ed-Ed-Eddie?"

The brunette's head lulled at the sound of his name, his pupils blown wide. A goofy smile plastered on his face.

"Yes, Bill?" The boy sounded like he wasn't fully there.

"You can t-t-take the couch." The taller boy said.

"Yeah, we don't want you to get sick from the dirty floor." Ben finished for Bill.

"Thanks, guys." Eddie smiled wider, if that was even possible.

Jonathan and Will walked back into the room with a handful of blankets and sheets. The group of teens cleared the way for the two boys to start making a pallet in the floor. Once they were done, they looked back at the losers.

"There we go." Will clapped his hands together, making Stan flinch. "I'm going to go lay back down. My mom will make you all breakfast in the morning."

"Thank you, again." Beverly moved to go lay down. The boys followed her actions, laying down and trying to get as comfortable as they could on the stiff ground. Eddie laid on the couch and was out like a light.

Jonathan flipped the light off and retreated back to his bedroom. Joyce quietly made her way back into the house.

"Goodnight, kids." She whispered. She was met with a chorus of 'goodnight' from the tired teens. Then she, too, went to her bedroom.

The teens laid in silence for a few minutes before Stan's soft sniffles broke it. Instantly, everybody turn to face their friend and comfort him in any way.

"I'm a monster." He cried, whispering to not wait to their hosts. "I killed those men."

"It was self defense." Richie reassured him. Ben saw him reach for Stan's hand. "They were going to kill us."

Ben reached over Beverly to run a hand through Stan's curls. "It's going to be okay. We're going to get home soon."

He could feel Stan nod as he fell asleep. One by one, all of his friends followed Stan. Eventually, Ben fell asleep as well.

\---

Bill woke up to the sound of a door opening. He could hear the sound of hushed whispers, like someone wasn't trying to wake them up.

"Mike," the voice sounded like Will. "You can't be here right now."

"Why not?" This voice wasn't whispering, it sounded familiar. "We've been planning to hang out today for weeks now!"

"I know but something came up." Will sighed, like he knew he wasn't going to win this battle. He admitted defeat quickly. "Okay come in, but be quiet!"

The door opened wider and Richie walked through the door. "What the fuck?" Bill exclaimed, head whipping toward his friend who was sleeping next to him. Ben shifted in his sleep, and Bill held his breath, trying to let his friend sleep.

"Who are these people?" The Richie lookalike asked, not quieting down his tone.

"B-be quiet!" Bill whispered, moving to stand up. He could hear the click of the Richie lookalike's jaw as it snapped shut. He untangled himself from Mike's heavy limbs before making his way over to the two boys in the doorway.

"Let's go to the kitchen." Will gestured to the aforementioned room. "We can talk freely in there without waking them up. Plus mom's making pancakes."

At the mention of pancakes, Bill's stomach growled and he realized he didn't know when the last time he ate was. It couldn't have been too long seeing as he still looked exactly the same, he hadn't lost any weight. The three boys walked into the kitchen and Joyce gave them all a 'good morning' before turning back to the pan she was cooking on.

"They came to our door last night." Will explained, not whispering anymore. "Mike. They're like Eleven."

That make the Richie lookalike- Mike- tense. "What?" He asked, looking over at Bill cautiously. "How is that possible?"

"Show him your tattoo." Will urged Bill. The tall boy pulled back the sleeve of his shirt and showed Mike his tattoo. It read the numbers 007.

"Seven?" Mike murmured. "You guys came before Eight and Eleven?"

"That's the thing though." Will explained. "They didn't go to the lab until after them. It's like their numbering system is flawed."

Bill pulled his sleeve back down and thanked Joyce as she placed a playe in front of him. "Let me w-wake up my fri-friends. They need t-t-to eat, too."

"Let them sleep," Joyce commented. "I still need to make their food."

"What the fuck?" The voice of Richie came from behind him. "Bill get away from that thing! That's not me!"

Bill felt Richie's hands pull him up out of the seat and shield him from his doppelganger. "Richie, I k-know."

"What?" The boy in front of him asked. "What do you mean?"

"My name is Mike." Mike chimed in. "Why do you look like me?"

"Why do you look like me?" Richie shot back, his shoulders relaxing.

Just then, Hopper and a girl walked into the house. The sound of the door made his friends groan in protest like they didn't want to get up. Hopper made his way to the kitchen, the girl following close behind him.

"El, these were the kids I was telling you about." Hopper gestured to the pile of kids on the floor.

"H-Hi, I'm B-B-Bill." Bill held out his hand for the girl to shake.

"Eleven." She grabbed his hand and pulled him into a hug.

"That's your name?" Richie butted in. "Does that make my name Four?"

"Brenner called me Six." Stan said quietly from behind Hopper, making the man jump.

"Jesus, kid."

"It's your identification number." Mike said. "For the experiments."

Bill nodded and moved to go sit down. He was hungry and wanted his pancakes. Richie had already taken a few bites out of it, Bill slapped his hand away and Richie grumbled. Joyce laughed and placed a plate in front of Richie.

Stan pushed past Hopper and moved to stand by Richie. Soon enough, all the losers walked into the kitchen and Joyce handed them each a plate of pancakes. They all thanked her and dug in.


	4. Beverly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is more of a filler chapter. I'm not exactly happy with it, but I felt bad for not updating the past 2 days, so here you go! :)

After Beverly finished her breakfast, she picked up her plate and picked it up to put it in the sink. There were scattered conversations around the table. Richie and Eddie murmuring to each other, same with Mike and El. Hopper glanced around the room every now and then, Beverly would make eye contact with him for half a second before he looked back down to his plate.

"So what are we going to do?" Bev finally spoke up, looking over to Bill. He was the leader of their group, they'd listen to him before any of these strangers in this house.

"I-I don't know." Bill sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Well, you guys can't exactly go home." Hopper said, making everybody stop eating.

"Why not?" Ben asked, lip, trembling slightly. "We've been kidnapped, and our parents probably don't even know we're alive."

"Exactly." Hopper continued. "You've been kidnapped, and until we know that Brenner is gone. You can't go home, because you could just walk right into his trap again."

Bev nodded. "He makes a lot of sense."

Eddie groaned, turning to face her. "I'm probably already on a milk carton for Christ's sake! I need to go home!"

"Can-Can we at l-least call th-them?" Bill asked, before taking the last bite of his food.

Joyce shook her head. "I'm sorry, but the lab traces all the phone calls in and out of Hawkins."

Bev sighs, putting her head in her hands. This whole situation had been making her more and more stressed. She looks up as Eddie abruptly stands and makes his way to the bathroom. She could hear the click of the lock and she looks down again.

Joyce goes around the table picking up plates to wash them. Bev gets up to help. It gave her something to do at least. The room fell quiet.

"So what do you think your abilities are?" Joyce asked her, as Bev handed her the silverware.

The redhead shrugged. "They didn't tell me, when I spoke to Brenner he just asked me questions."

Bev could see Eddie entering the room from the corner of her eye. He makes an offhand comment to Richie, but she doesn't actually hear what he says. She grabs a plate that Joyce just washed and rinsed the soap way before placing it in the drying rack.

"So is no one going to mention that Richie and Mike look exactly the same?" Ben asked, cutting the silence in the room.

"It's really weird." Mike H commented. Beverly turned around to look at the two boys. They did have a striking resemblance, although Mike was maybe just a tad bit taller.

"Oh, speaking of!" Mike looked over at Richie. "I want to bring you to meet my family. They'll freak out so much, it'll be hilarious."

A mischievous grin formed on Richie's face. "That would be amazing!" He agreed.

"You could totally stay at my house, too. Since you guys will be here for awhile." Mike suggested. "Though I could probably only take you in, your friends would have to find another place to stay."

"T-That's okay." Bill nodded. "We c-can find another pl-place."

"I can fit maybe two of you at my cabin." Hopper said.

"Take Beverly and Stan." Ben replied. "Bev can have a girl to finally hang out with and Eleven could possibly help Stan with his power."

"Good idea." Mike H nodded. "Then Eddie, Bill, Ben, and I could stay here? I mean if that's okay of course."

Joyce smiled. "It'll be a tight squeeze, but I don't mind."

\---

Hopper, Stan, Bev, and El all piled into Hopper's police truck. Stan had barely said a word since he woke up this morning, and Beverly was starting to worry. She reached for his hand, making him jump. He relaxed and held her hand after a second.

"Are you okay?" She asked, trying to read his emotions.

Stan nodded once. "I'm just thinking." He murmured.

"About?" She pushed.

"Those men." Stan said after a moment of silence. Bev squeezed Stan's hand and he smiled slightly. He wouldn't talk for the rest of the car ride.

Trees passed them as they drove farther into the woods. Hopper explaining that they lived in an old hunting cabin owned by his late grandfather. He mentioned how there were only two rooms, but the couch folded out into a bed.

"Bev, you can sleep in El's room." The officer told her.

"No, I'll sleep on the same bed that Stan does." Bev argued.

"Since you're staying with me," Hopper started. "You'll follow my rules. One of them will be that girls and boys sleep separately."

"I don't care." Bev continued to argue. She crossed her arms and glared at the officer.

Hopper sighed. "I need a beer." He told himself.

El laughed and turned around in her seat. "I like you." She commented, making Bev smile.

They pulled up in front of the cabin and Hopper turned off the car. "We're here." He said before shoving the car door open and making his way inside. Bev could hear the faint sound of the fridge opening and the familiar click of a beer can being opened.

"I'll give you a tour." El said, getting out of the car herself. Bev and Stan followed suit.

The trio made their way inside. They stepped into a small living room, which was connected to a small kitchen area. Hopper already made himself comfortable, drinking a beer and watching TV on the couch.

"This is my room." El said pointing to a door that opened by itself. Bev looked inside and took in the small room. Everything about this cabin was small. She felt slightly claustrophobic.

"That's the bathroom." El pointed to another door that opened by itself. "And that's my dad's room. Don't go in there, it's one of his rules."

Stan nodded and sat awkwardly on the other side of the couch, like he was trying to get comfortable but couldn't. "Thank you for letting us stay here." He said.

"No problem." Hopper looked from the TV over to Stan. "Help yourselves to whatever is in the fridge. Just don't touch my beer, you hear me, boy?"

"I don't drink." Stan shook his head.

"That's what I want to hear." Hopper went back to the TV. El giggled before tapping on Bev's shoulder to get her attention.

"Do you want to hang out in my room?" She asked the redhead. "I can paint your nails."

Beverly smiled and nodded. "That would be fun! The boys let me paint their nails, but all of them are horrible at painting my nails!"

Stan got up as the girls walked into El's room, following behind them. "I'll watch." He said, sitting on the bed.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll add tags as I write this. I promise that this won't be a completely angsty story! I just felt like I wanted to add some sort of angsty element to this.
> 
> In the chapters that the tags need it I'll add a trigger warning but heres one now
> 
> Stan is going to struggle with an eating disorder (specifically bulimia), not as a way to lose weight but like a coping mechanism.
> 
> Eddie is going to struggle with a pill addiction. I know that his pills are all 'placebos', but I wanted to take a turn on it where his mom gave him pain killers from a young age, so he's become addicted to them. 
> 
> Just bear with me lmao


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